Research conducted under this project aims to develop Alstom’s limestone-based chemical looping gasification (LCL-G™) concept for conversion of coal to high-hydrogen syngas for power generation and/or liquid fuel production. NewCO2Fuels Ltd. will provide solid oxide electrolysis cell-based hydrogen production expertise, and the Illinois Clean Coal Institute will provide financial support. The LCL-G process will be evaluated and refined using bench-scale testing followed by process validation at Alstom’s 3-megawatt (thermal power) chemical looping test facility. A techno-economic assessment of the LCL-G technology for power and/or diesel fuel synthesis will be conducted to demonstrate that the system has the potential to meet DOE cost and performance goals.

Project Benefits

Alstom’s LCL-G™ process is a transformational clean coal technology which utilizes limestone as a solid oxygen carrier to provide oxygen and heat to a fossil fuel conversion process for syngas generation. This process does not require capital- and energy-intensive air separation units, plus CO2 is captured as part of the process without the addition of expensive, external CO2 capture systems that also rob energy from the system. Limestone is particularly attractive for this application because it is already used in relatively similar, commercial-scale, circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustors and is abundant and cheap. The LCL-G process can meet all DOE objectives for demonstration before 2030 of competitive near-CO2-free integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power and/or competitive coal and biomass to liquid (CBTL) fuels with lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum-based fuels, a production combination known as polygeneration. Thus, this project will advance toward commercialization, a technology that holds the potential to increase efficiency and to reduce the environmental footprint of polygeneration as well as its cost. It also can take advantage of emerging DOE-sponsored gasification-related technologies expected by 2020 (e.g., pressurized coal feeder, warm gas cleanup, H2 turbine, etc.).